Monday, November 28, 2016

I've discussed with many people, both online and in everyday conversation, on the policy of non-interventionism. I've decided to share my views so that my position on this topic is clear.

First off, it's important to note that war destroys countries. It tears their economies apart, leads to death on both sides, and requires massive funding. The rewards are, perhaps, a certain amount of land, people, etc., but the cost is enormous. In most every war we've seen in the late 20th and 21st century, not much good has come of it. It has run us billions in debt, cost us over 2000 lives in the Iraq war alone, and required more taxes sent overseas rather than benefiting the citizens who are footing the bill.

However, I'm not against war altogether. There are absolutely instances in which we must fight, because either we are attacked, or someone leads an orchestrated attack upon our allies. It is in these circumstances that we are not only entitled, but required, to respond with a certain level of force to ensure safety of ourselves and others.

Wars not fought for this reason, though, were not justified. Our reason for annexing Texas and multiple other territories from Mexico in the 19th century was an example of a nation on the attack, not on the defensive. Our focus in war should not be on acquisition of land or financial gain, but instead on protecting our citizens from foreign forces.

To conclude, I am by no means against our military. I salute their commitment to our country, willing to take a job that may put their life at stake. What we do with it today is detestable. There is a reason why the military adviser to the POTUS is not called the Secretary of Offense, Secretary of Policing the World, or Secretary of War, but instead the Secretary of Defense.

“America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."-John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States

Friday, November 25, 2016

Progressive Taxation: When the taxation rate is changed based upon amount of income per year.
Flat Tax: When the taxation rate is independent of amount of income.

With this in mind, I'll compare the two, and come to a conclusion.

1) Fairness

First off, a progressive tax means that a disproportionate amount of money is taken from the rich solely based upon the fact that they make more profit than others. In a flax tax, the rich still pay a much larger amount of money, but this amount is proportionate to all others.

To give an example, someone who makes $300,000 a year off his business pays the same percentage as someone who makes $30,000 a year. Supposing the tax rate is flat, at, say, 20%, the richer individual pays $60,000 in taxes, and the second individual pays $6,000 in taxes. Although the richer individual has the same tax rate as the second, he is still paying 10 times what the second individual is paying.

Comparing this to the US progressive tax today, the richer individual would pay $87,904 (27%), and the second would pay $4,036 (13.5%). Now, the richer individual is paying more than 20 times what the poorer individual was, and at an unfairly disproportionate rate.

2) Complexity

This should be simple. The flax tax will obviously less complex, as there would be no brackets, tax breaks, exemptions, etc.. On the other hand, a progressive tax requires brackets, varying taxation rates, etc.. To put it into context, the US tax rule book has over 1000 pages, and is updated each year with new rules.

3) Economic Growth

With a flax tax, people are encouraged to make more. There is no penalty for becoming richer in taxes, as there are no special brackets. This leads to a more prosperous nation as a whole, giving incentive for economic growth.

However, with a progressive tax, people are punished for making more. There are many accounts of people who spend needlessly simply to stay out of a larger tax bracket instead of saving or investing. This leads to the people who are poor to remain poor, and not grow richer.

Seeing the arguments, I'm inclined to state that a flax tax is fair, simple, and leads to economic growth.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Not too happy about this one. Trump's policies on tariffs may be the worst I've seen yet. The cost of living will go up, how should I put it, tremendously (get it?). His patriotism goes unchecked when it comes to economics. However, on the other hand, we have Clinton with an overly progressive economic plan that is bound to hurt businesses in the US and drive trade down. Obviously, both candidate's plans are incredibly flawed, but out of the two, I'd rather pick Trump's. We've seen what progressive policies do to the economy with Obama's administration, and I don't want it to happen again.

PERSONAL LIVES

Honestly don't care. Sorry, that might seem strange, seeing as most of the campaigns were about the personal faults of the two candidates, but I'd rather focus on policies than personal. I think Bernie Sanders said it best: "Enough of the emails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America."

THE "OTHER CHOICES"

Bernie Sanders:
A socialist man who wants the GDP control to raise to 50%, wants all education to be free, and will cost us $17 trillion in debt within the end of the decade. No thank you.

Gary Johnson:
If there was ever a faker libertarian (and I should know, as I am one)...
Not to mention, he knows nothing about the issues. Just take a look at one of his interviews on Aleppo.

Jill Stein:
Just look at her tax plan. According to her, the rich shouldn't even keep half of the money they've earned, at the very least they can only keep 40% of it. Not only that, but she opposes free trade, and is unable to call illegal immigrants "illegal immigrants" after they have conclusively broken the law.

OVERALL

Am I happy with the way things turned out? No. Not at all. But is it better than I expected? On the whole, I'd have to say that yes, it did turn out better than I expected it to. These 4 years will show us whether or not we've got enough bipartisanship in the Government to keep it together.

Well, well, well. Not what I expected at all. I expected 20% voter turnout, blue states all around, and lots of riots.

But, the way it is now is way better than how I thought it would be, and here's why. I'll split this into two parts.

THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

VERY happy about this one. In the debate, Clinton stated she wanted to appoint a justice who would support certain issues, such as pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, etc.. Trump wanted someone who would uphold the constitution. Simple choice here, folks. The Supreme Court's job is to use judicial review, not support certain issues. Pro-Trump on this one. (I never want to use that phrase again...)

THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

With the Democrats having majority in Congress for the past 8 years, it'll be good to have a Republican Senate and House to reel back some leftist policies we've seen over the past years. However, that means we have McConnell as party leader for the Republicans, someone with 49% disapproval rate. Hopefully, we'll get something good out of this, though.

FOREIGN POLICY

Well, here we have a lose-lose scenario. If Trump wins, we'll be stuck with terrible foreign relations with Mexico, the EU (those that support Syrian Refugees), and the middle east. However, based upon my research, Clinton wants war with Russia. I'd rather this country be called bad names by other nations for 4 years than to get ourselves into a war with the second most powerful nation on Earth. Not to mention how much that would run us into debt.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Also note that I didn't give any supporting articles. If you want some evidence, comment bellow and I'd be happy to give it.